Outstanding News in Pictures: August 14th, 2011

Mount Soputan spews a cloud of ash and lava in Indonesia, A heavy snowfall hits New Zealand, rainbow graces the sky in Minsk, bombing in Pakistan kills 12 and injures 23, and stage collapses at Indiana State Fair are some of most outstanding news in pictures on August 14, 2011.

On Sunday morning August 14th, Mount Soputan in Minahasa, Indonesia, emitted a cloud of ash which was up to more than one kilometer in height. The volcanic eruption can be clearly seen in Tompaso district and drew the residents’ attention here. According to Tompaso resident Riko Tamunu, 24, “I was surprised and panicked seeing the eruption at about 10 a.m. It was a big eruption; the clouds and ash looked very tall; almost the same as those produced in the big eruption several months ago.” Moreover, Indonesian officials raised the alert status to the second-highest level, level III named Siaga.

Mount Soputan spewed a cloud of ash and lava in Indonesia, reaching more than one kilometer in height

The first snow in 40 years in parts of New Zealand due to an Antarctic cold wave happened on Sunday and might continue for a week. This rare weather closed roads, schools and caused power cut around the country. According to Weather Watch, this heavy snow is falling in some Auckland suburbs and in the nearby Waitakere Ranges and Bombay Hills for the first time since the 1970s.

A heavy snowfall hit Wellington, capital of New Zealand, on Sunday

A bomb blast burst through a two-story hotel in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province on Sunday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 23

A rainbow seen near the village of Stankovo, 30 km to the west of Minsk, Belarus, on August 14

A stage collapsed at Indiana State Fair killed at least four people and injured 24

A mass wedding ceremony with the participation of 100 couples was held during the fifth Greater Saint John of the Cerrado festival in Brasilia, Brazil